Category: India

India’s Central Railway is digitizing and posting historical records of its Central Railway online. Over 2000 books, journals, records, and letters are being processed. Following is a teaser from an article posted in the October 30, 2016 edition of mid-day.com.

A hardbound compilation of correspondences between railway officials. Several letters in this collection are written in fine calligraphic styles in archival ink. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi.

Imagine getting the chance to go back in time when the first passenger train ran from Bori Bunder to Thane in 1853. This defining moment in India’s history, as it turns out, was heralded by misconceptions and apprehensions. The English railway officers weren’t sure if this new mode of transport would be received with enthusiasm by the ‘natives’, who had been used to roads and waterways….

In a digitisation programme launched last week by the Central Railway, these blasts from the past are in the form of books, documents and letters from the mid-1800s onwards. For instance, the above lines are from a retrospective hardbound booklet, published in 1900, titled The Great Indian Peninsula Railway, Under the Original Company’s Administration.

Family historians hungry for historic Irish records will enjoy FamilySearch’s new collection, Ireland Petty Sessions Court Registers 1828-1912. These indexed court documents bring 22 million records to your fingertips. These records were originally filmed at the National Archives of Ireland and the index was created by findmypast.com. See the table below for additions to over 60 historical record collections, including 46 million US obituaries. Click on the collection’s link to start your discovery.

Help Publish More Free Records Online
Searchable historical records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of online volunteers worldwide. These volunteers transcribe (or index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are always needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published weekly online on FamilySearch.org. Learn how you can volunteer to help provide free access to the world’s historical genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org/Indexing.

About FamilySearch International
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historical genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historical genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the worldís historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org .

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The following is from the April 11, 2014 edition of newindianexpress.com:

The rare records and books in the Odisha State Archives would soon be accessed from any corner of the world through a website.

The State Archives is in possession of over 50,000 rare books and more than six lakh important records from 1803 to 1947 related to Odisha’s political, cultural, social and administrative history.

Documents belonging to the pre and post-Independence period, rare agreements, books and old maps are in the archives. The Culture Department has plans to upload these rare records and books on an independent website for benefit of research scholars.

“The State Archives has already finished conservation of a large number of records and started their digitisation a year back,” said BP Ray, Superintendent, Odisha State Archives.

The following teaser is from an article published March 9, 2014 at the gulfnews.com website.

Shimla [Himachal Pradesh, India]: Clement Attlee’s grandson John was born in Shimla nearly nine decades ago. His great-granddaughter has just fished out her father’s birth certificate from the cavernous civic office of the “queen of the hills”.

Sally Camps, great-granddaughter of Clement Attlee, who served as Britain’s prime minister from 1945 to 1951, screamed excitedly as she traced her roots in this hill station. It was during Attlee’s tenure that India got its independence in 1947.

Simla, as it was then called, served as the summer capital of British India between 1864 and 1939.
Camps along with her husband Michael Camps was in this Himachal Pradesh capital last week to locate the birth records of her father John Keith Harwood, who was born here in 1926.

The following teaser is from the February 14, 2014 edition of The Times of India website.

KOLKATA [India]: If you want a copy of the death certificate of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, ask Kolkata Municipal Corporation. One of the oldest civic bodies of the country, KMC [Kolkata Municipal Corporation] has digitized its death register, dating back 128 years, and can now issue copies on demand.

KMC, which recently traced Mark Tully’s birth certificate, has also found the record of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who died on August 16, 1886. Starting with this date, KMC can now give copies of the millions of deaths it has recorded. Digitization of birth certificates will be taken up next.

The following excerpt is from an article posted at the November 8, 2013 edition of Iranian.com

Hyderabad [India]: Director of International Research and Educations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Hadi Soleymanpour said that the government of Iran would be pleased to establish an Iranian Research Centre in Hyderabad for the preservation and promotion of the Persian language.

…

He said that as The State archives is being a custodian of largest record of Persian language, an research centre on the lines of Daira-tul-maarif Arabic can be set up with the co-operation of the A.P.State Archives to facilitate the research on Persian record available in Archives. He also proposed to sponsor the publication of books with the compilation of translated work of Persian to English.

…

He was startled after witnessing the huge quantum of 3.75 million rare and historical record in Persian and Urdu languages date back to 1406 A.D preserved in the Archives.

Dr. Zareena Parveen, Director of the Archives explained that the Persian language was official language till the 1884 A.D. After that it was replaced, gradually, by Urdu language in the courts and later in the year 1887 A.D. it was implemented completely as an official language.

AP State Archives has the largest collection of Moghul record with 1,55,000 documents of the Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb era preserved here, she informed.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The following is from FamilySearch, April 2, 2013:
FamilySearch has added 23.9 million indexed records and images this week with new browsable image collections from Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, England, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 19,206,333 images from the new United Kingdom, World War I Service Records, 1914-1920, collection, the 2,005,113 index records from the United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, collection, and the 930,622 index records from the U.S., New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1925-1942, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FamilySearch added an additional 16.3 million new, free indexed records and images this week to its collection. Notable additions include the 1,984,100 records for the United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards from 1917-1918, the 2,056,187 added to U.S., California, Probate Estate Files from 1833-1991, and the 1,610,053 added to the new British Columbia, Canada, collections. Other new searchable collections online were added this week for Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and the United States. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A new social ancestry website created by two Londoners is helping South Asians reconnect with their past.

“My grandmother got Alzheimer’s and so all the great stories that she used to tell me… they just disappeared.

“And then when I tried to trace back my history I realised that because my family is South Asian we don’t have records of births, deaths and marriages,” said Daadi’s co-creator, Saima Mir.

This was the inspiration for a new website created by two Londoners to attempt the difficult job of tracing the ancestry of South Asians and those of South Asian heritage.

Who’s the Daadi (a play on the word Dadi, used by South Asians to describe their paternal grandmother) is described as a “social ancestry site” and will use pictures, names, significant dates and places to create family trees using a database of information.

“I was looking through old photographs of my dad, in his really dapper suits in different parts of Karachi, and realised that so many of my friends have images like this. I came up with the idea of a Wiki database to bring them all together,” said Mir, from Tooting in South London.

Mir co-created Daadi with Alex Street, who was behind the technology used in building the website. The pair met using social media and the site has been inspired by relationships created, and re-established, on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The following information is from FamilySearch.org:

76 million much-anticipated state census, naturalization, immigration, and vital records were added this week for 22 states, including Ohio, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Since partnering with the National Archives of Italy to digitally preserve and index its civil registration, more than 24 million images have been published and 4 million names have been made searchable on FamilySearch.org. Millions more free records were published this week for Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland. Search these diverse collections and 2.8 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

HYDERABAD [INDIA]: The Andhra Pradesh State Archive and Research Institute (APSARI), the only such centre in the State, is in danger of losing some of its most valuable archive – manuscripts, documents and books dating back to 1407 AD. Most of these historical chronicles are not only brittle, but also damaged.

“We have been asking the government to release funds to modernise the institute and digitise the archive. But the response has not been encouraging,” Zareena Parveen, APSARI, told Express. The archives are a treasure trove of information not just on the Nizams but also the British rulers, the Mughals and the Delhi Sultans.

The chronicles, running into lakhs of manuscripts, documents and thousands of books, are in different languages like Urdu, Arabic, English and Telugu. “It is better to digitise all of them before they get damaged, because they are the only sources of research for the next generation,” pointed out V Ranga Raj, Deputy Director of APSARI.

Osmania University, History department, Prof V Ramakrishan Reddy echoes the same views. “There are thousands of books which must be digitised or they will be damaged forever. For example, the Industrial Census in The Nizam Dominion 1935-45, Agricultural Census and Kesava Iyengar’s Economic Investigations In The Hyderabad State 1939, must be digitised because they are very important to trace the economic and agriculture history of the Nizam Government.”